diff --git a/CHANGES.md b/CHANGES.md
index 83d50a02d6..ca0cb2443b 100644
--- a/CHANGES.md
+++ b/CHANGES.md
@@ -17,11 +17,13 @@ Grammars:
 - added 3rd party Candid grammar to SUPPORTED_LANGUAGES [rvanasa][]
 - fix(haskell) Added support for characters [CrystalSplitter][]
 - enh(dart) Add `base`, `interface`, `sealed`, and `when` keywords [Sam Rawlins][]
+- enh(php) detect newer more flexible NOWdoc syntax (#3679) [Timur Kamaev][]
 
 Parser:
 
 - add removePlugin api [faga295][]
 
+[Timur Kamaev]: https://github.com/doiftrue
 [WisamMechano]: https://github.com/wisammechano
 [faga295]: https://github.com/faga295
 [AdamRaichu]: https://github.com/AdamRaichu
diff --git a/src/languages/php.js b/src/languages/php.js
index f0e5f8ef68..13fde3abb5 100644
--- a/src/languages/php.js
+++ b/src/languages/php.js
@@ -51,10 +51,18 @@ export default function(hljs) {
     illegal: null,
     contains: hljs.QUOTE_STRING_MODE.contains.concat(SUBST),
   });
-  const HEREDOC = hljs.END_SAME_AS_BEGIN({
-    begin: /<<<[ \t]*(\w+)\n/,
+
+  const HEREDOC = {
+    begin: /<<<[ \t]*(?:(\w+)|"(\w+)")\n/,
     end: /[ \t]*(\w+)\b/,
     contains: hljs.QUOTE_STRING_MODE.contains.concat(SUBST),
+    'on:begin': (m, resp) => { resp.data._beginMatch = m[1] || m[2]; },
+    'on:end': (m, resp) => { if (resp.data._beginMatch !== m[1]) resp.ignoreMatch(); },
+  };
+
+  const NOWDOC = hljs.END_SAME_AS_BEGIN({
+    begin: /<<<[ \t]*'(\w+)'\n/,
+    end: /[ \t]*(\w+)\b/,
   });
   // list of valid whitespaces because non-breaking space might be part of a IDENT_RE
   const WHITESPACE = '[ \t\n]';
@@ -63,7 +71,8 @@ export default function(hljs) {
     variants: [
       DOUBLE_QUOTED,
       SINGLE_QUOTED,
-      HEREDOC
+      HEREDOC,
+      NOWDOC
     ]
   };
   const NUMBER = {
diff --git a/test/markup/php/strings.expect.txt b/test/markup/php/strings.expect.txt
index 8a9c4dd8f5..953138b52d 100644
--- a/test/markup/php/strings.expect.txt
+++ b/test/markup/php/strings.expect.txt
@@ -17,7 +17,18 @@ MSG</span>);
     FROM table
 SQL</span>);
 
-<span class="hljs-title function_ invoke__">var_dump</span>(<span class="hljs-string">&lt;&lt;&lt;SQL
+<span class="hljs-title function_ invoke__">var_dump</span>(<span class="hljs-string">&lt;&lt;&lt;&quot;SQL&quot;
     SELECT *
     FROM table
     SQL</span>);
+
+<span class="hljs-comment">// nowdoc syntax</span>
+
+<span class="hljs-variable">$var</span> = <span class="hljs-string">&lt;&lt;&lt;&#x27;TEXT&#x27;
+    Hello {$person-&gt;name}! Welcome to $company!
+TEXT</span>;
+
+<span class="hljs-title function_ invoke__">var_dump</span>(<span class="hljs-string">&lt;&lt;&lt;&#x27;TEXT&#x27;
+    Hello {$person-&gt;name}! Welcome to $company!
+    TEXT</span>);
+
diff --git a/test/markup/php/strings.txt b/test/markup/php/strings.txt
index d539d549a8..6e879722bf 100644
--- a/test/markup/php/strings.txt
+++ b/test/markup/php/strings.txt
@@ -17,7 +17,17 @@ var_dump(<<<SQL
     FROM table
 SQL);
 
-var_dump(<<<SQL
+var_dump(<<<"SQL"
     SELECT *
     FROM table
     SQL);
+
+// nowdoc syntax
+
+$var = <<<'TEXT'
+    Hello {$person->name}! Welcome to $company!
+TEXT;
+
+var_dump(<<<'TEXT'
+    Hello {$person->name}! Welcome to $company!
+    TEXT);